R & D & World War 3
by ElegantButler
Summary: Bryce, Jenny and two more of their counterparts have been conscripted for military service. (Story is continued in "Max Headroom: Desdinova")
1. Chapter 1

MAX HEADROOM: R&D and World War 3

Edison walked into Control at Network 23 with his camera gripped in one hand.

"Morning, Edison," Theora said from her desk. "Murray's just stepped out for a moment. But he left me a message. Cheviot wants us to cover Zik Zak's new mall opening."

Edison shook his head with an annoyed huff. "I'm not a commercial shill. I am a legitimate reporter. My job is…"

"Your job is to keep this network running. The same as everyone else here," Murray said.

"My job is to keep people informed about important things that are happening. Let Janie Crane do it."

"I'm covering the scumball game, Edison," Janie called out.

"There has to be something more important than a shopping mall," Edison said. "This just seems like a red herring to me. What are they trying to distract us from?"

"I'm sure it's just a slow week," Murray said, placatingly. "They happen."

"Well, I'm going to ask Bryce if he can find something," Edison said, leaning over Theora's chair. "Punch in his number and we'll see what he says."

Theora tapped in the number for Bryce's vu-phone. The image of Bryce's lab came up on the screen. But Bryce was not there.

"Maybe he overslept? Try his bedside phone."

Theora tapped it in. The bed was also empty. It had been stripped. The walls were free of Bryce's usual posters. One drawer stood open. It was empty. Theora suspected the others were as well.

"He's gone," she said, sounding worried. "You don't think Cheviot fired him?"

"I hope not," Edison said, also concerned. "Maybe he's just updating his studio and he went to get rid of the old stuff he doesn't want anymore."

"But his clothes?" Theora looked up at him. "It doesn't make sense. Something's going on."

Four hundred miles from Network 23, Bryce sat in the back of a modified Bedford QL. He was dressed in a pair of camo pants and a black t-shirt. There was a chain around his neck with a pair of dog tags bearing his name and simple medical info for any medics who might need to treat him in the future.

He was not alone. Jenny was there from Network 66. Her hair was done up in a severe braid. She was identically dressed as were the others in their group.

Jeremy, whose lab was in World One was conversing quietly with Alan who up until that point had worked with BreakThru TV.

"We're not cut out for military stuff," Jeremy was saying. "We're super-adept at mental strategy. But when it comes to physical violence, we're light years out of our league. They never should've drafted us."

"We'll be okay," Alan told him. "We're probably just being conscripted to handle inventing stuff for Good Ol' Tom."

"If we are, it means our base of operations will always be in danger of invasion," Jenny pointed out.

"She's right," Bryce agreed. "We need to learn to defend ourselves. Not just mentally, but in physical combat as well. And we should learn armed combat as well. I don't think any of us knows how to handle a weapon at this point."

"My uncle showed me a rifle he once owned," Jenny offered.

"Military?" Alan asked hopefully.

Jenny shook her head. "Just a standard hunting rifle. He used to hunt deer before the last global conflict."

"Won't be of any help," Jeremy told them. "The weapons the armed forces use are much more powerful. They don't have as nearly as much recoil as the old movies suggest, but that doesn't mean they don't have any. You won't fly back across the room if you fire a lot of them. But you will still break your wrist or in extreme cases dislocate your shoulder if you fire them incorrectly."

"Sounds like we need to build up our upper body strength as well as learning proper handling," Bryce guessed.

"Or maybe we need to use something with less recoil," Jenny suggested.

"Are you thinking of laser guns?" Bryce asked. "This isn't a science fiction movie. The best lasers they have right now only remain coherent for a range of ten feet. If we face an aerial assault, we're going to need a lot longer range than that."

"There is nothing with a longer range," Jenny pointed out. "And I don't think they're going to give us the stuff we need to make it. We've got no choice. We'll have to learn bullet-grade weapons combat if we're going to survive this."

"Unless…" Bryce said. He paused and looked at Jenny. "You didn't happen to bring that mobo-com you were fiddling with?"

Jenny handed Bryce a small rectangular device. "Just finished it last night. I don't know if it will connect with standard vu-phone service though."

"Careful," Alan warned. "If they suspect you're contacting anyone…"

Bryce punched in Theora's control desk vu-phone.

Theora frowned as her vu-phone signalled a call. "Hello?" she asked, hoping Murray wouldn't come over and scold her. "I'm sorry, but control is not permitted…"

"Theora," the voice was garbled and there was no picture. "It's Bryce."

"Bryce! My god, where are you?"

"I can't tell you that," Bryce apologized. "But I can tell you that I'm okay for now, and I'm not going to be back for a while. So tell Cheviot to find someone to fill in for me."

"Bryce…"

"Theora, I need you to look something up for me. Find out what happened to the old Turing-Thompson lab."

"You mean the old weapons lab?" Theora asked, horrified that Bryce would be asking about guns, which is what he seemed to be interested in.

"Yes, that's the one." Bryce said. "They were working on something called the RS40-G just before the war ended. I need to know if the lab is still around and if any of the stuff they were working on still exists in a usable state."

"That's dangerous stuff you're talking about, Bryce," Theora said, firmly. "Why do you need to know?"

"I can't tell you," Bryce replied. "You just have to trust me. It's important. I have to go."

"Bryce…" Theora said as Edison approached her. But the signal was gone. "Bryce… Bryce?"

"Where is he?" Edison asked.

"I couldn't trace him," Theora apologized. She looked up at Edison. "I think he's in trouble. He was asking about the RS40-G."

"The prototype long-range laser-bazooka?" Edison asked. "Why would Bryce want a weapon?"

"I don't know," Theora replied. "He claimed he couldn't tell me. Edison, we have to find out what's going on. If he's in danger we have to help him."

"We will," Edison said. He was worried to death about his friend, but he was also happy to have something more important than a shopping mall to worry about. "Do you have the address for that place Bryce was asking about?"

Theora looked it up. "It said it was torn down years ago." she said, looking disappointed.

Edison looked the same for a moment, then a thought hit him. "You don't think they had a secret underground storage room? Something the bulldozers might have missed?"

"The only way to find out is to go there and find an entrance of some kind. Unless you can find someone who used to work there."

"No," Theora said. "I don't think it would be a good idea to get too many people involved. I get the feeling that Bryce's contact with me was against the rules. We can't risk them finding out he called. We'll have to find the entrance ourselves. If there is one."


	2. Chapter 2

-Chapter Two-

Murray walked over to Theora's desk. He had been given specific orders by Cheviot to cover the Zik Zall mall's grand opening. What was on Theora's screen did not look like a shopping mall or any information about it or the shops inside.

"What are you two looking at?" he asked. "You're supposed to be getting ready to cover the mall opening."

"We've got something more important to deal with, Murray," Edison told him. "There's something going on. Something involving high-level weapons."

"It can wait," Murray said, firmly. "Zik Zak is this network's major sponsor. If they're not happy, we could lose our contract with them. That would lose us billions of credits."

"We're talking about the RS40-G, Murray," Edison pointed out. "The laser bazooka."

"Why would anyone want one of those?" Murray asked. "That's military grade stuff. Look, just do this opening quickly. Then you can find out about the gun."

"There are lives at stake here, Murray," Edison pointed out.

"Network 23 is at stake," Murray argued.

"Bryce is one of them," Theora added.

"How is he involved?" Murray asked. This put a different spin on the matter. Bryce was only sixteen after all. And rather naive in regards to worldly affairs, even if he was a genius with technology. If he had been brainwashed…

"I don't know," Edison said. "I only know that he contacted us about ten minutes ago and wanted to know about the RS40-G."

"Could you see where he was?" Murray asked.

"It was audio only," Theora told him. "And the signal was odd. Like it wasn't coming from a standard vu-phone."

"Old wall phone system?" Murray asked.

"I don't think so. The signal pattern suggested it was moving. Must've been something Bryce was working on before he left."

"Either that or something one of his counterparts from another network was working on," Edison suggested. He looked at their expressions. "You think we're the only network that hires from ACS? I'm sure Network 66 has their own little genius as well."

"So you these people, whoever they are, are looking for some kind of think tank?" Murray inquired.

"Most likely," Edison said "But why would a think tank need a weapon? And why something as powerful as that?"

"The reason for the gun is obvious," Janie said as she joined them. "They want to protect themselves. The White Brigade is not the only terrorist organization in the world. There have been others in the past, and there will be more in the future. If Bryce is involved in something military, those organizations are going to make targeting his group a high priority. It's easier to destroy a small group of inventors than it is to destroy a large stockpile of their inventions."

"Bryce would never invent a weapon," Theora pointed out, fiercely.

"Maybe he already has," Murray suggested.

"What are you talking about?" Edison demanded.

"Well, you remember Blipverts? How they made some people explode if they were completely inactive?"

"If they're able to turn our TV sets into weapons…" Theora whispered in horror.

"Nobody would be safe," Edison finished. "But it can't be done, can it? The Blipvert Effect is too random to be used as a weapon. You can't aim it at a specific target."

"Thank God for that," Murray said, breathing a sigh of relief. "I'm going to contact Cheviot. I just hope we can work something out. If we lose the Network's backing, there's no way we can help Bryce."


	3. Chapter 3

-Chapter 3-

Jenny stowed her mobo-com in the lining of her bag and leaned back in the open truck bed. She, Bryce, Alan, and Jeremy were seated far back enough from the cab of the truck to prevent the driver and his second from hearing their conversation. But there was always a danger of anything they did being spotted in the rear-view mirror.

"What was that?" the second asked, as she closed her bag.

"Girl stuff," Jenny called back, cheerfully. She knew he, like most men, would be too embarrassed about what her mother called Lady Time to ask anything else.

"So," Alan asked, eager to deflect her away from the subject, "what was that thing you two were talking about earlier. The RX…"

"RS40-G," Bryce corrected him. "It's a laser bazooka. Prototype. Only two others were made before it, but they suffered significant meltdown after being fired a single time."

"Shouldn't it be C then?" Jenny asked.

Bryce shook his head. "G stands for green. It emits a shot of green energy instead of red. I think it uses hypermolecular energy."

"That's extremely unstable," Jeremy pointed out. "One speck of dust could cause a catastrophic weapons failure."

"I know," Bryce agreed. "That's why we need to get a hold of it. We need to study it. Take it apart. Work out a way to stabilize the energy source before we put it to use in any type of defensive situation. And if we can't, then we'll need to come up with an alternate plan of defense. Because we're going to need one. Badly."

The truck turned onto the A1 and took on more speed.

"This isn't the way to the military base," Jenny said, frowning slightly. "What's going on?"

She made her way toward the cab-end of the truck bed. "Where are we going?"

The second turned to face her. "We'll be there in a few minutes."

"That's not an answer," Jenny argued.

The second turned and then pointed at a large building. "That's our next stop."

"Next stop," asked Bryce who had joined Jenny. "So then what's our destination?"

"You'll be briefed on that information once we've arrived," the driver said without turning around. "Our job was simply to drive you here. Your commanding officer is the only one with the information you're looking for."

Bryce and Jenny exchanged a worried look but remained silent.

The truck pulled into a gate. The driver handed his pass to the guard who waved them through. They drove up to the building and parked outside.

The driver pointed at the door. "You four are authorized to enter. We are not."

Bryce, Jenny, Alan, and Jeremy climbed out of the truck bed. Bryce gave a dismissive nod to the driver and his second who drove off.

"Do we go in?" Jeremy asked.

"We have to if we want to know what's going on," Bryce replied. He stopped at the door and put his hand on the knob, then gave a beckoning gesture with his head to the others.

Jenny, Jeremy and Alan followed Bryce inside. Inside were a couple dozen other teenagers. Some Japanese, some Scottish, some American.

One of the Japanese girls asked a question in Japanese.

"Jenny, you know Japanese," Bryce noted. "What did she ask.

"I don't know her dialect," Jenny apologized.

"I do," a Scottish girl replied. "It's Kansai. She's just wondering what's going on. Like the rest of us."

A middle-aged man walked into the room, accompanied by a Japanese woman and a couple dozen children, one of whom Bryce immediately recognized.

"Nicholas," he asked. 'What are you guys doing here?"

Nicholas shrugged. "Sysop dropped us off. Didn't say why. Can you get us back to ACS?" he asked Jenny, "I don't like it here."

"Let's just find out why we were brought here first," Jenny suggested.

The two adults called for attention in both English and Japanese. After a few moments, the small groups that had formed grew silent and focused on the speakers.

"We know you're intelligent, so we won't insult you by trying to soften the blow," the man told them. "My name is Arthur Bennett. I'm a retired Mission Specialist with TransCon."

"You mean the Trans-Continental Space Administration?" a girl Nicholas's age asked.

"That is correct miss…"

"Judy Coburn," the girl told him.

"Miss Coburn. As you all are aware TransCon was officially shut down during the last war in order to transfer funding to military purposes. However, unofficially, we were funded by a small group of scientists and environmentalists. It was their intention, and ours, to reverse the pollution and damage that the war did to our atmosphere. However, we have been unable to do so."

"So, you want us to clean up your mess," Jeremy guessed.

"Unfortunately, we can't," Bennett told him. "The atmospheric damage is irreversible. And it's getting worse. Earth has less than a decade before all the food is inedible. And less than five years before our natural resources are depleted because of contamination."

"So, what are we here for," Bryce asked, as Judy's eyes began to water.

Jenny saw that the girl was scared and put her arms around her. "We'll be okay, Judy. Let's just listen and find out what we're doing here."

"I'll do better than tell you," Bennett said, as the Japanese woman translated. "I'll show you. Follow me."

Bennett opened a small door and led the group of geniuses down a flight of stairs and along a hallway to a metal door. Bennett opened the door and ushered them through.

Bryce and the other geniuses stared at the large spaceship while Bennett pressed a button on the wall, causing the ceiling the fold away,

"There is a planet in IC2163 called Desdinova," Bennett told them. "It's not exactly the same as Earth, but the atmosphere is breathable and the soil samples we've gathered will support the seeds we've stocked for you."

"So, we're moving to another planet?" Nicholas asked.

"What about our families and friends?" Jenny asked. "Can we say goodbye?"

"I'm afraid not," Bennett apologized. "We don't want to panic the general population. Let's get aboard."

Bryce hesitated for a moment. Then, he and the others followed Bennett onto the shp.


	4. Chapter 4

-Chapter 4: Take Off-

"Desdinova is 80 million light years from Earth," Bennett told them once the door had closed. "However, the ship is equipped with a both cryogenic sleeping pods as well as a S42 artificial intelligence system that…"

"No." Bryce cut him off. "I want Max Headroom."

"Excuse me?" Bennett looked at him sternly.

Bryce studied the ship's controls as he spoke. Most of them were clearly marked, and it was obvious from their names what each one was for.

"I want an AI that I know I can trust. I've never met this S42. I don't want some system I've never met before in charge of me while I'm unconscious light years away from Earth."

He turned and looked directly at Bennett.

"I want Max Headroom," he said, again.

After a long pause, Bennett let out a breath and tapped a few keys on the ship's communications system. The system's lights and screen came to life and a moment later, Cheviot's face filled the screen.

"Bryce," he demanded. "Where the hell are you?"

"I can't tell you that," Bryce replied. "You need to send Max to me immediately."

"Max is on air," Cheviot told him. "He can't be interrupted."

"Tell him to transfer to my location the minute he completes his spot," Bryce said, a tone of finality in his voice. He didn't tell Cheviot that Max wouldn't be returning to Network 23. Max was an amazing ratings grabber and Cheviot would never send him if he knew he wasn't coming back.

Once Max had arrived, Bryce disconnected the communications computer from the System.

"Now that everyone is here, let me fill you in on what's going to happen," Bennett said.

Max opened his mouth, but Bryce waved him down.

"Later, Max," he whispered.

"In five minutes," Bennett told them, "you will all enter your cryosleep pods and enter the first sleep phase of your journey. If we were travelling at normal speeds, the trip would take approximately eighty million years. As it stands, even with our hypertime transit engine it will still take us eight thousand."

"Edison!" Max called, rather alarmed at this news and what it suggested.

"He can't hear you, Max," Bryce apologized. "Look, I know this is unfair to you and I'm sorry, but I need you. Badly. I'm going to be a long way from home. I want to work with an AI I know I can trust."

Max felt a sense of pride at these words. He beamed at them and Bryce was glad to see he was taking it so well.

"Thanks, Max," Bryce said, gratefully.

"You'll be awakened once every thousand years for a three day period," Bennett continued. "This will allow you to maintain optimal physical health. You will also be awakened for emergencies, unless Max determines it better for you to remain in stasis."

He paused to let that sink in. Then he continued. "Now if everyone is ready, please step into the cryo pods, and prepare for sleep phase one."

"See you in a few thousand years," Bryce said, cheerfully, as he waved to Jenny.

"That's one heck of a beauty sleep," Jenny grinned back.

"I don't want to go to space," a Scottish girl of eight wailed. She turned to an older girl who was clearly her sister. "I want mom!"

"I know you're scared," her older sister told her. "But mom wanted me to bring you with me. She knows that you'll be safer with me than if you stayed here on Earth. You want to make mom happy, right, Susan?"

Susan nodded, glumly. "Uh huh."

"Well, then, let's get you tucked in. I'll be in the pod right next to yours. I promise."

"Can teddy stay with me?" Susan asked, looking down at her little pink and blue bear.

"Of course he can," Bennett assured her, smiling as her older sister helped her into one of the cryo chambers and handed her the teddy.

"Good night," Susan's older sister said.

"Good night, Laura," Susan whispered as the cryo chamber closed, sealing her inside.

Laura climbed into the one next to it as she had promised while the others climbed into the rest.

Susan waved the bear's paw in a "Good night" gesture at her sister as the pods activated. She was still in that position when the ship's precious cargo was in full cryosleep moments later.

Bennett turned to Max. "Prepare for lift off in T minus 15 seconds," he said. "Conditions are optimal. Countdown begins on my mark. Ready? Mark!"

"15..." Max counted down as Bennett went over the standard last minute checks. "14… 13…"

Edison Carter was driving in general direction of the Turing-Thompson lab when he felt the ground begin to tremble.

"… 9… 8..." Max continued, wondering what Edison was up to. He was going to miss the man. After all, it was Edison's mind that Max had been formed from.

Edison pulled the company car over and got out, looking around for the source of the disturbance.

"...3… 2… 1. Lift off."

Edison heard the roar of the spaceship's engines as it took off. He turned to see what the noise was. And as he saw the ship rise up and leave the atmosphere, in that moment he understood.

"Good luck, kid," he whispered.


End file.
